Love Beyond Death
by mallowmelting
Summary: {ONE-SHOT} A fanfic I wrote a few years ago (but didn't upload until now). This is a one-shot about what happened to Feathertail after she died. FeatherxCrow ship.


**Hi! This is a kind of short one-shot I wrote a couple years ago. Please review and say what you think!**

Darkness. A swirling, writhing mass. It was nothing, yet it was everything. Everything I had ever loved, everyone I had ever known. Twirling away like the last dislodged leaf in leaf-bare. All gone.

But the darkness clears, and I am standing on an empty, windswept mountain peak. I don't know where I am, but somehow I know this is where I belong.

Then cats appear, along the mountain ridges, everywhere. Materializing out of nowhere. One moment there was empty space, the next a star-flecked she-cat is there.

Voices greet me, strange voices, that I have never heard. From cats that are mostly strangers. But I recognize one cat. There she is, separating from the crowd. Star That Shines On Water. She was taken by Sharptooth not too many nights ago.

"Welcome to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, Feathertail," meows every voice in the crowd, yet sounding as one. But Star's voice sticks out from all the rest. "You have fulfilled the prophecy. A silver cat has saved the Tribe. You are safe with us now."

"I've died," I suddenly realize. "I'm supposed to be in StarClan! Where's Stonefur and Crookedstar?"

"You walk with the Tribe of Endless Hunting now," Star murmurs gently. "Your place is with us, not StarClan."

"But I'm a Clan cat! I don't know anybody here!"

"You know me."

"But you're the only one!"

"Not quite." A beautiful silver tabby steps out from the crowd. I feel like I recognize her, but I know I have never seen her before. I look at her soft blue eyes, the slope of her shoulders, the flick of her ears as she walks forward. She is me.

"Hello, Feathertail," the tabby says. "So finally mother and daughter meet. I'm Silverstream."

* * *

I slowly adjust to life in the Tribe of Endless Hunting. I become an excellent prey-hunter, and I suppose one could say I am almost happy. There's no doubt that the mountains are where I belong. But after Silverstream left to go back to StarClan, I've felt like there is a huge, empty hole in my chest. I had just met my mother, and then I had to lose her all over again. And Crowpaw. I hear he's Crowfeather now, named in my honor. I still love him so much that it hurts. I can't stand another day not seeing him. My heart feel like it will burst, and finally Half Moon lets me see him in a dream.

"Mind you, he's not going to like seeing you, and you may not enjoy seeing him," she whispers in my ear.

I'm still pondering what she meant when I am plunged into the troubled dreams of Crowfeather.

I'm standing on a vast moor. And Crowfeather is right nearby! I start to run toward him, wanting to smother him in my embrace. But no! I stop in my tracks. He's with another she-cat. A young light brown tabby. Leafpaw! How dare she steal Crowfeather! I strain to hear her words.

"I'm sorry, Crowfeather. I'm ThunderClan and you're WindClan, and I'm a medicine cat. I've come tonight to tell you goodbye."

"No! Wait, Leafpool! Please. Don't go. We can leave together, go beyond the territories. Just think, Leafpool! We can be happy together. I know you love me, and I - I love you more than words can say."

Leafpool! The mere thought of her name brings bile into my throat. If those two ever come across the mountains, I'll tear her limb by limb until there's nothing left of her to join StarClan. As for Crowfeather? I'll kill him too, so we can finally be in the Tribe of Endless Hunting together.

* * *

I can see Brambleclaw didn't expect me to come tonight. He stares at me as though I'm a Twoleg from another dimension. But I have come to grant Brambleclaw a life, nothing more.

"I walk with the Tribe of Endless Hunting now," I meow. "But tonight I have come here with my StarClan friends to give you one of your lives."

Brambleclaw bows his head. "Oh, Feathertail, not a day goes by that I don't think of you. I am so sorry we left you behind."

I flick my ears impatiently. "But I was part of the Tribe's prophecy, remember? The silver cat who would destroy Sharptooth? The mountains are where I belong, but I have never forgotten the Clans. I watch over you still, and I am so proud of you, Brambleclaw." I reach up and press my cheek against his. "I give you a life for exploring beyond the borders of your Clan, for seeing the possibilities that lie in unexpected places, and the untrodden paths that wait to be discovered. You are not trapped by your invisible boundaries. If you cannot find the answers within them, then look farther off. There is always hope somewhere."

Brambleclaw rocks back and forth, an invisible wind buffeting his fur. I remember my last moments and can't help but feel pity for the young deputy.

But I can't stand to stand there among the ranks of StarClan, cheering Brambleclaw's leader name. "I will be with you, always," I whisper to Brambleclaw as I fade away to sparkling, empty air.

I may be a Tribe cat now. But I fight for the Clans and everything the warrior code stands for. When the time comes, I am more than willing to lay down my place in the stars to protect RiverClan. To protect all the Clans. I may fight alongside the Tribe of Endless Hunting, but I will never, ever forget that I was once a Clan cat.


End file.
